Just recently, a news came out that AMD is preparing or will be releasing a Dual GPU graphics card based on the Hawaii-XT silicon, codenamed “Vesuvius” a.k.a AMD Radeon R9 290X X2. I’m not really surprised to hear this kind of news since dual GPU’s has been a trend for the past few years. And they always came out after AMD or NVIDIA introduced their fastest single GPU graphics card. The previous dual GPU that AMD had was the AMD Radeon HD 7990, where AMD decided to significantly drop its price to compete with NVIDIA’s GTX lineup.
If you have done your research, Vesuvius is a name of a volcano that destroyed Pompeii City, unleashing force a thousand times more powerful than the Atomic Bomb dropped on Hiroshima. So the codename is still somewhat related to the whole “Volcanic” and “Hawaii” themed lineup. AMD might also be trying to say that the upcoming AMD Radeon R9 290X X2 is that powerful, and they are planning to destroy NVIDIA’s faster single and dual GPU with it. By the way, there are a lot of Xs on this product’s name. I hope that AMD came up of a better name than full of X.
One thing that bothers the PC enthusiasts’ community is how AMD will keep this beast cool and quite. I mean, the AMD Radeon R9 290X can reach up to 94 or 95 degrees Celsius on load, how much more will a dual Hawaii GPU chip? Probably a customized water cooling solution would do the trick. Anyway, this is still just a rumor and AMD hasn’t released any official announcement about this card yet.
AMD Radeon R9 290X X2 Specifications
The AMD Radeon R9 290x X2 (Vesuvius) specifications below is just an estimate. It’s not final and yet to be confirmed.
Specifications | Radeon R9 290X X2 | Radeon R9 290X | Radeon HD 7990 |
---|---|---|---|
Stream Processing Units | 2x 2816 | 2816 | 2x 2048 |
ROPs | 2x 64 | 64 | 2x 32 |
Graphics Processor | 2x Hawaii | Hawaii | 2x Tahiti |
Transistors | 2x 6200M | 6200M | 2x 4310M |
Memory Size | 2x 4096 MB | 4096 MB | 2x 3072 MB |
Memory Bus Width | 2x 512 bit | 512 bit | 2x 384 bit |
Core Clock | 1000 MHz (TBC) | 1000 MHz | 1000 MHz |
Memory Clock | 1250 MHz (TBC) | 1250 MHz | 1500 MHz |
Price | ~$999 (TBC) | ~$550 | ~$800 |
Price and Release Date
Currently the price for the Radeon R9 290X X2 Vesuvius as well as its release date is unknown. AMD might release or announce it by the end of this year or probably early next year. My estimate is that AMD might price the R9 290X X2 around $1,000 or $999, since the R9 290X is currently at around $550 USD, to compete with the GTX Titan’s price.
What the?! This is definitely going to be hot. 2x 95 degrees is insane, you could cook an egg in that already. This obviously needs a water cooling setup. Aside from the temperature issue, I think this will be one power hungry graphics card. And yeah the name sounds ridiculous. Perhaps they should call it AMD Radeon R9 Visuvius instead. Similar to GTX Titan. Speaking of GTX I’m sure NVIDIA will counter this Visuvius very soon. And I wonder what will they call it?!
Definite NVIDIA will counter AMD’s Visuvius with also a dual GPU, probably a dual GK110 card – Titan x2? or GTX Hercules hehehe
Sounds like another insanely expensive card that will burn your resources over time….
AMD and NVIDIA have both insane price.. i dont see any point buying either of the products.. VESUVIUS OR TITAN BLACK OR 790.. waste of money.. ill just grab a 290 or 290x then ill have extra money for bigger ram or SSD or HDD OR WHAT.. But i would love to have a AMD VESUVIUS FOR FREE though.. hehehehe
lol cards i like nvidia